Palaces for the Dead
by Chyna Rose
Summary: In his life, Naruto has nearly died numerous times. *Always* there has been someone to keep him company (even if he never remembers her afterwords). Today he will finally learn her name. [Character Death Warning]


Palaces for the Dead

By Chynarose

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Viz, Bandai, and Kishimoto-sensei.

Warnings: Major character death. Run on sentences (yes this requires an actual warning). Epilogue compatible but not Boruto compatible. Mythology speculation. Time skip speculation.

Author's Note: I meant to get this out around Halloween but between getting married and working full time I managed to misplace the folder that I stuck the hard copy of the story in. Obviously I found it, so here it is.

00000

He had seen her countless times before, the solemn girl who now knelt beside his broken and bloody body. From his lowest points when the hate of the village grew too great and something just **snapped** , to the desperate missions where nothing went right and he had to throw all that he was against the odds so that there was at least one person to make it home. Even at his greatest failure she had been there, no pity, no recriminations, no accusations over _you promised_. Just melancholic sympathy as one of his precious people slipped through his fingers like fine ash.

She had been there as well at his ultimate triumph, when he'd saved the world and made everything whole. Well mostly whole. It took him years to accept that he couldn't save everybody. Not now, and certainly not then. He'd tried though. Tried so very hard. And even if _**some**_ body wasn't _**every**_ body, at least it wasn't _**no**_ body. He'd save what he could, who he could, and perhaps that was enough. They were all ninja. They knew the risks; when you went out on missions, went to war, nowhere did it say that you had to come back.

He was as tired now as he had been then. The peace following that final battle had lasted a long time. Long enough for him to marry and raise his children into adulthood. But it hadn't lasted forever War had come again to the Elemental Nations, to Konoha. And just like last time he'd jumped into the fray without a second thought. Well... not _**exactly**_ like last time. He wasn't a hot headed teenage genin with more raw power than most jounin and not enough experience to back it up anymore. He was all old and responsible now. Not _**that**_ old mind you – he wasn't as old as Sarutobi-jiji or Tsunade-baachan had been when they'd handed over the hat. But he was old enough.

Pain constricted breath, leaving what should be great gulps of air as shallow gasps that weren't easing any. His head swam as his alarmed mind tried to list off everything wrong in a voice that sounded like a strange combination of Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade-baachan mixed together with just a _hint_ of Karin. Only. Only. It couldn't be them – they were _**gone**_. Years, months, weeks, days... he couldn't bring his mind to _**when**_. And that scared him.

Facing down Ototsuki Kagura, the one who had manipulated Uchia Madara into warping and using Uchiha Obito (who in turn controlled Pein who led the Akatsuki. Once, when Boruto was still very young and either Himawari was just a baby or Hinata had been pregnant with her – he couldn't really remember right now, he'd seen a set of wooden dolls; simple things made out of what at first glance looked to be a single piece of wood with no neck or limbs. Each doll had been beautifully painted to look (vaguely anyway) like each of the biju, and each doll had been _just_ a bit smaller than the one before it. You could open up the first eight of them and fit the smaller ones inside them which he'd thought had been pretty neat – even if the doll version of Kurama _**had**_ been the smallest making the details a bit harder to make out than, say, the one that looked like Shukaku. Come to think about it, maybe it'd been a gift of some kind? At any rate, the whole thing about who they'd all thought was the enemy in turn being duped by someone else who'd been pulling the first guy's strings the whole time and now that their puppet was defeated it was time to take _**them**_ on, reminded him of that toy), hadn't scared him. And _**she'd**_ actually killed him (or was that Black Zetsu as it was kinda, sorta, semi-possessing Obito's corpse? Maybe Madara?) Ripped Kurama right out without even a how do you do. If his dad and Super Gramps hadn't been there to pull off... whatever the hell they'd actually done (so sue him. That fight had been a _**long**_ time ago and with things being kinda happening all at once and, you know, his dying and all he should be fogiven if some of the details were a bit on the fuzzy side).

Come to think of it, she'd been there then. Just kinda off to one side; not one of the resurected kages, not part of Orochimaru's little crew, not with Team Seven (his _**original**_ Team Seven), not allied with Kaguya... just there and not wrapped up in one of those strange leafy cocoons like, say, _**EVERYBODY**_ else. At the time, he though it was weird, but then his dad was shoving the other half of Kurama into him, and Super Gramps was pulling him in for a talk, and he'd been _**busy**_ what with the fight between them and Kaguya and later him and Sasuke... he'd forgotten all about her.

He'd always forgotten about her. Time after time for as long as he could remember. There'd be pain and emptiness and a desperate need to know _**WHY**_ (at least when he'd been a kid. Mizuki-teme had finally explained the why and yeah, the pain was still there – getting a hand shoved through your lungs _**hurt**_ – but some of the loneliness had eased off because he knew he had friends – real friends, not just a bunch of guys he ditched class with.

And why Sasuke? Why hadn't they, hadn't _**he**_ been enough? Why did you have to leave? Why couldn't you have gotten strong in the village? Kakashi-sensei had. So had Orochimaru and even Itachi. You remember Itachi don't you? Your brother, the guy you spent a lifetime chasing after, who you abandoned the village – _**us**_ – for? Konoha made your nightmare strong. It was the exile, however self-imposed, that had broke him.

But Sasuke was back. Had come back. Where was Sasuke? He'd _**promised**_ that he'd drag Sasuke back, even if it took an eternity. Sasuke _**belonged**_ in Konoha. With him and Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, and even Yamato-taichou and Sai even if they weren't really part of Team Seven having come to the party much, much later, and the children.

Oh god the children! _**Where**_ were the children! He had to find them. Make sure they were safe. They were still so young – especially little Himawari-chan – but they were ninja – couldn't _**not**_ be ninja like their parents even though it had been their choice – and as much as it tore at his soul, a ninja's place was to protect the village. To protect he village was to be on a – on this – battlefield. And the battlefield was _ **not**_ safe.

He couldn't get enough air, couldn't find the strength to stand. He hadn't though of Kurama as that stupid fox since he was **sixteen** but he did now. He needed to get up and find the kids, find his wife, find Shikamaru and Kiba (and Akamaru) and Tenten and Bushy Brows and Sai and... and... Iruka-sensei and Neji and Sakura... Only... Only Sakura wasn't there anymore. Wouldn't be there anymore. And _**WHY COULDN'T HE REMEMBER**_? The kids were still ok (right?) but the others... they were... gone... (right?) It felt like forever ago and just right now and he _**knew**_.

He had to get up. He just _**had**_ to. He was running out of time. The wolves weren't just at the door, they were sitting on the couch in the living room having tea. His precious people – his village – was (gone) in _**danger**_. He had to... to... Threats to what was his got _**ended**_. He'd killed Kaguya. He'd killed Pein. He'd killed... he'd killed... Sasuke! and... Orochimaru... and Oto and... how could Sasuke do that? They were only trying to bring him home where he belonged, help Naruto fulfill the promise he swore to himself and Sakura-chan. It was all Sasuke\s fault that they... that they... Hinata-chan had been _**heartbroken**_ at Neji's funeral. Hiashi-sama and Hanabi-chan too, although they hid it better. But they _**had**_ cried and Neji had been put to rest with all the honor of a member of the main house even though he'd been branded as a branch house member when he was born. Just like his dad had been. And Shukaku and the Akatsuki after _**they**_ killed Shukaku? Gaara? The Akastuki killed the biju. And then they were killed. And again while everyone was fighting Madara who was really Kaguya. And Gaara had... Gaara had

Gaara died. Gaara's been a good psuedo uncle to Boruto and Himawari-chan and a great uncle to his brother's and sister's kids. Kid. Kids? Kids! Oh god the kids! What happened to the kids! Where was Sasuke!

He'd... he'd failed the kids. Couldn't keep them safe. Couldn't keep Konoha safe – and how the hell was he gonna be named the Godaime Hokage by Sarutobi-jiji and _**finally**_ get his face carved into the Hokage Monument if he couldn't even keep one little god damn measly village safe! He promised. He _**promised**_ and Ero-senin thought it was a _**terrible**_ but he'd promised and he never broke his word 'cause that was his Way and... and... oh yeah! He'd promised to drag Konoha back to Sasuke – kicking and screaming if he had to. And he hadn't. And now he couldn't (and, yes he could admit _**that**_ now, as much as it hurt to admit it. But then again, what _**didn't**_ hurt).

There was still one thing he could do. One person he could save. It wouldn't be enough (could never be enough) but it was a start. This was a battlefield. The all too familiar stranger wearing a girl's face as a civilian. Battlefields chewed up seasoned ninja (like him). What chance would a defenseless civilian have? He couldn't save Konoha, couldn't bring Sasuke back, but he could save _**her**_. For so long she had brought him comfort when things were at their bleakest and the loneliness ached at him like a stab would; it was the least he could do to even attempt to repay her.

Far off, or maybe it was nearby – he hadn't really been paying attention which was stupid because what if it'd been an enemy, he heard a crow caw. The girl must've heard it too (so not a genjutsu which was... good?) because she looked up toward where the crow's call had come from. Graceful as any kunoichi (and maybe he'd been wrong about her being a helpless civilian – which was actually a good thing in his book since it meant that she didn't need quite as much saving as he'd first thought. At leas he knew now that she _**could**_ fight back) the girl rose to her feet. The large raven that had called to her landed on her shoulder as if it had done just that a thousand times before, running its beak through her hair like a comb and whispering secrets to her that he couldn't catch. The rest of its flock was settled in the nearby trees; strange black fruit that refused to be plucked. Relief at having not failed her, it struck him just how rude he was being. His Hinata-chan would thump him good if she found out.

"Hey." he rasped, dry tongue darting out to lick ineffectually at cracked lips, "What's your name?"

"Death." she said quietly as she extended her hand to him. He took it and let her help him regain his feet.

(Distantly, he heard people shouting, calling his name and frantically yelling for a medic.)


End file.
